UCD Students’ Union’s most recent Constitutional Referendum has failed to meet the 12.5% quorum needed to pass a constitutional referendum, as a 10.6% voter turnout is recorded.
The referendum, which sought to lower the referendum quorum to 10% from 12.5% and to allow for Class Reps to be elected at the end of the Spring Semester, has failed as it did not meet quorum. This is the second time in eight months that this referendum has been held, and it is the second time it has failed to meet the required 12.5% turnout.
At 3pm on Thursday 28 November, the UCD Students’ Union Returning Officer announced the results of the Constitutional Referendum that took place on Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th November.
The published results show that the ‘Number of voting codes issued’ stood at 31,993, the ‘Number of voting codes used’, i.e. votes cast, was 3,391, which equates to 10.6% turnout, and 1.9% below the threshold to pass constitutional referendums.
The Returning Officer summarised in his email, “both referenda have failed in circumstances where less than 12.5% of members of the Union have cast a valid vote.”
The first question, to reduce quorum from 12.5% to 10%, failed to pass as quorum was not met. Out of the votes cast, 1,825 students (59%) voted For the amendment to reduce quorum, and 1,267 students (41%) voted Against the amendment. 299 students abstained.
The second question, to allow class reps to be elected at the end of the Spring semester, also failed to pass as quorum was not met. Out of the votes cast, 2,060 students (65.7%) voted For the amendment, and 1,076 students (34.3%) voted Against the amendment. 255 students abstained.
The YES/YES campaign, endorsed by the Students’ Union, was narrowly shown favour by voting students on the question of quorum, and substantially on the question of class rep elections.
The NO campaign, who singularly campaigned against the question on quorum, have by default gained their desired outcome as quorum remains at 12.5%.
The University Observer has sought clarity from the UCDSU Returning Office as to why the number of voting codes issued is significantly less than the number of students reportedly attending UCD. On UCD’s website, it states, “UCD is also Ireland's most globally engaged university with over 38,000 students drawn from 152 countries, including over 5,000 students based at locations outside of Ireland.” The University Observer has sought confirmation on if the “5,000 students” mentioned above are entitled to vote in UCDSU Constitutional Referendums.
This story is being updated